Senior Member

The Water & Ice bridge acknowledges it's proximity to Lake Ontario throughout all seasons. In the summer, it will help keep pedestrians cool through the usage of tinted glass and the psychological cooling effect brought on by the resemblance of waves and water both in design and in shadows. Stainless steal handrails and supporting beams, and the glass they hold in position, reminds one of ice.

Taking design queues from the Head of Slips, designed by West8/DTAH, helps to create a connection between the two nearby public pedestrian spaces while the blue glass waves of the bridge induces feelings of water.

While Water & Ice does shift somewhat from the typical box truss bridge, it's far from being overdesigned and can be constructed with a modest budget in mind.

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I'm off to my aA meeting but they haven't helped much so far (recovery seems out of reach when you are boxed in).

Senior Member

Great design Cassius. I was planning on using the West8 wavedeck as an influence in my second submission but I just didn't have more time to dedicate to this process. I'm very glad somebody went with it. Continuity from the Waterfront icons should draw people into the "Waterfront Disctrict" with recognizable landmarks.

You have an issue with your design however: the bridge is too low. It must be raised above street level to allow the required clearance for trains and sight lines below. This is another opportunity to integrate the wavedeck design. Have a wooden wave deck at each end to slope down and serve as ramps.

New Member

Pretty design work and well researched. Seems like a lot of glazing for a pedestrian bridge (or any bridge for that matter). Looks good in renders but what will it look like dirty, and covered in scratches? The design would work more as a plus fifteen walkway than an open-air bridge.

Active Member

It looks wonderful, but as others have mentioned, will there be enough space for simultaneous, safely separated pedestrian and bicycle traffic?

Also--already mentioned--the height above the train tracks may have to be increased. Perhaps there is a way to create a gentle asymmetrical vertical arching to the whole bridge profile ( +1 metre over the whole length, with the peak maybe 60% of the way southward), so that a wider width won't look too "flat", or perhaps vary the height of the glass sides while keeping the bridge flat?